John Davey

How do genomes vary, and how does this variation influence animal diversity? I am attempting to address these questions using the charismatic Heliconius butterflies. There are tens of Heliconius species distributed across South and Central America, most with tens of different subspecies. This species diversity is generated and maintained by variation in the genomes of these butterflies. Using high throughput sequencing, it is now possible to assemble and compare whole genomes of multiple organisms and search for large scale variations in these genomes. I am using high throughput sequencing to search for variations in recombination rate and for the presence of chromosomal inversions across multiple Heliconius genomes, in an attempt to provide an explanatory mechanism for the diversity of Heliconius species. In the process, I am developing several novel methods for the analysis of inversions and recombinations using next generation sequencing, based on previous work on RAD Sequencing in butterflies, moths, salmon, sturgeon and snails.